british raf

RAF Arms and Explosive Search Dog, Buster. Buster completed five tours of duty in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq, the campaign medals of which he wears on his uniform here. During his career Buster saved countless lives by locating improvised explosives and; for his service, Buster was made Mascot for Life of the Royal Air Force Police.

This is the only picture ever taken of Concorde flying at Mach 2 at 2,172 km/h (1,350 mph). This unique picture was taken in April 1985 by Adrian Meredith from a Tornado fighter jet, which only rendezvoused with Concorde for just 4 minutes over the Irish Sea. The RAF Tornado rapidly running out of fuel, and was struggling to keep up with Concorde.

The Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04, with seating for 92 to 128 passengers. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years.

British Pattern 1925 Royal Air Force Officer’s Sword

RAF Officer’s Sword 1977, an extremely fine example, the 81.5 cm tapered blade with single fuller by ‘Wilkinsons Sword London’ numbered 107322 (1977), the blade etched with a crowned eagle, the Royal Arms and blank scrolls with leaf decoration, the gilt metal handguard of standard RAF pattern incorporating the crowned Royal cypher and an oval panel showing a crowned eagle, eagle’s head pommel and part feathered back strap, wire bound white fish skin handgrip, gold lace sword knot with central pale blue lining, together with its gilt metal mounted black leather scabbard, all three chapes decorated with bands of laurel sprays.

The RAF officer’s sword is essentially a brass-hilted version of the Pattern 1897 Infantry Officer’s Sword. The major differences aside from the hilt materials are the eagle head pommel, the RAF emblem on the guard, and the white ray skin grip. The scabbard is similar to the Pattern 1827/46 Naval Officer’s Sword.

British MRC Body Armour

Developed by the British medical research Council between 1940 and 1942 to equip frontline troops, issued in April of 1942.1mm manganese steel - equivalent to a Brodie helmet, 1,6kg, three parts, covered in canvas. Protects from .38/200 rounds at 5m, from .45ACP rounds from a Thompson submachinegun at 90m and from .303 British rounds at 640m.Although the initial order for this armor was originally of 500000 units, only 200000 were made and 72000 issued due in part to the materials being used in priority to manufacture helmets, and because there were found, “although well padded, [that they] tended to cut into the soft-skin areas of the body
causing chafing, with the result that violent and rapid movements were
significantly impaired. Moreover, it causes a man to perspire so
profusely that his powers of endurance were affected.”
- Simon Dunstan,
Flak Jackets 20th Century Military Body Armour.Their use although perhaps not as efficient as intended still gave soldiers a boost of confidence when part of the first line of assault, and the armor was used in majority by airborne forces of the RAF. This all took place in parallel with the private development of the Wilkinson M1 Flak jacket that was issued in 1943.

One of very few photographs of the only Vickers Valiant B.2,
WJ954, in colour. Designed to operate at low altitude as a pathfinder, her performance was astonishing for the day - first flying
on 4 September 1953.

With four smaller wheels instead of the two large wheels of the B.1, the assembly retracted backwards into large fairings to the rear of the wings, clearly visible here. The subsequent removal of wheel-wells from the wings allowed for an
uninterrupted
wing torsion box structure, making the design incredibly tough. To correct the center of gravity on the aircraft, now displaced toward the tail, the B.2 had a lengthened fuselage, a 4 ft 6" extension behind the cockpit - giving room for more avionics. Sadly, while her happiness to perform at low altitude and speeds far greater than Britain’s other V-Bombers would later prove greatly desirably, she was killed off in 1958, with the realisation that the pathfinder concept, born in a time of mass raids, was obsolete in the nuclear era.